By Sally Underwood
With the loss of biodiversity and the risk of losing @432 species to extinction, why do we continue to allow the proliferation of toxic chemicals to maintain our homes, lawns and roadways? At Town Meeting in May of 1998, citizens of Stockbridge voted to disallow the use of herbicides and pesticides within 200′ of a wetland resource in our Rights-of-Way.
While this is a start, we need to think whenever we use toxic chemicals. The cumulative effects of their use are too often ignored. Products such as Rodeo (glyphosate) kill far beyond their intended targets. Remember the old song about “I knew an old lady who swallowed a fly…”? Things eat other things. It all goes up the food chain. D-con, another popular product, also causes unintended consequences. The mouse eats the D-con, goes outside to die, gets eaten by a hawk, your cat, your dog… resulting in illness, possible death. When you bring your dog into the vet’s office with unspecified symptoms, the vet will often ask if it could have ingested D-con.
Stocking fish stocks the state’s coffers through fishing licenses, but what does it mean for the native species? The native brook trout vies for the same resources as the invaders.
Who mows your lawn, works in your local stores and restaurants, plows your driveway, fixes your roadways, clogged sink or porch stairs, saves your burning building, keeps us all safe? Average, often extraordinary, people doing essential work. Why do we not prioritize where they can afford to live in our Town? Yes, it’s great to grow our economy, but if we don’t have the local workforce to support our infrastructure, it will all collapse. DeSisto and Elm Court boast jobs and taxes, but where will the workers come from and where will they live? Jack Fitzpatrick recognized that and provided housing for many of his workers.
What makes Stockbridge Stockbridge? Why do thousands of people come here from all over the world? I believe it’s the essential look and feel of the Town. We must preserve that! If we lose our open spaces and the Rockwellian vibe, we will lose everything. We have an unique blend of a small-town New England village that also offers some of the most outstanding cultural venues, scenic beauty, and historic places in the world.
Conservation and preservation of both our natural and cultural worlds will ensure that we don’t lose everything we hold so dear.
